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As Rose Foley got out of the large rental car, she let out a soft cry of appreciation. The ranch was every bit as beautiful as Jake had told her. The pastures sprawled out behind the house, where a few rolling hills met the towering mountains. With the snow-capped peaks and the chill in the air turning their breath frosty before them, the place seemed like something from a Christmas card. Rose hugged herself tightly to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"You like it?" Jake asked with a smile as he came over to stand beside her.
Rose smiled and nodded emphatically. "Oh, Jake," she breathed. "It's wonderful. I can't wait to meet your family.
She saw some of the sparkle go out of her fiancé's eyes and he dropped an arm across her shoulders, pulling her to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and embraced him fiercely.
"It'll be okay, Jake," she assured him. "You're worried for nothing."
The smile that returned to his face lacked confidence. "I hope you're right," he whispered. "But with my dad you just never know."
Rose gave him another encouraging squeeze. "How bad can he be?" she laughed. "He's your dad."
Jake's eyebrows raised slightly at that, then he put on a more determined expression. "Whatever happens... just remember I love you. That's all that's important anyway."
Rose felt the same warmth spread inside her she always did when Jake told her that. She was sure he was overly concerned. "I love you too," she told him, then nodded in the direction of the house. "Shall we go?"
Jake took a deep breath and started forward, keeping Rose close by his side. She felt an excited thrill of anticipation, wondering just what would happen when they walked through the door. She didn't have long to wait.
Before they'd made it all the way there, the big oaken door opened and a small, sixty-ish looking woman was running out to greet them.
"J.J.," she cried and Jake at last let go of Rose to wrap the little woman up in a big bear hug.
"Hi, Grandma," he greeted warmly. "Did you get my letter?"
"I certainly did," she stated. Her face grew puzzled. "But I still don't know why you didn't want me to tell anybody you were coming."
Jake smiled and reached out to take Rose's hand. "I had a surprise," he chuckled. "Rose, this is my Grandmother, Katherine Michaels."
The woman turned her kind, blue eyes onto Rose and smiled broadly. "So you're the girl who's captured our J.J.'s heart."
Rose blushed, but felt at ease with this lady. "We captured each other," she replied softly.
Katherine nodded. "And that's how it should be."
"Where's Mom and Dad?" Jake interrupted, his voice betraying his underlying tension.
Katherine's face grew troubled. "You're father's out in the pasture with the vet. Cassie's gone into town with Beth. It might have been better if she were here, but..." She paused only briefly, then gave Rose a reassuring smile. "Come on now. Don't stand out here in the cold. There's still plenty of family to meet."
That turned out to be an understatement. As they entered the comfortable ranch house, Rose found herself suddenly surrounded by a multitude of Jake's aunts, uncles and cousins of all ages. There were so many, Rose was sure she would never remember their names, but they all seemed so warm and friendly that Jake's nervousness and anxiety faded from her mind.
They'd arrived close to lunchtime and the next hour was taken up with the happy chaos of preparing enough food to feed the small army that made up the Michaels family. Never one to hang back, Rose insisted on helping and soon found herself swept up in the good-natured gossip and banter between Jake's grandmother and his aunts.
She learned that Beth and Katie were Katherine's daughters, while Eleanor was an in-law. There was another sister who was back in Indiana and wouldn't be able to make it, though she was sorely missed. Jake's own sister, Kay, was the only one who seemed at all stand-offish, though Rose didn't take offense. She knew some people took a little longer to warm up to strangers in their midst.
On one of her several trips into the dining room, she noticed Jake deep in conversation with his brother-in-law. Rose chuckled to herself. The man would soon be her brother-in-law as well. And all these other people would be her in-laws too. Marriage would certainly require some adjustment in her thinking. It was funny for a girl who'd started out life with no one, she would soon have more family than she could count.
They were just about ready when the sound of a triangle clanged loudly from outside the kitchen. That seemed to be a cue, for at once, everyone began finding a place to sit at the over-sized table. Rose wasn't quite sure where her place was, but suddenly Jake was at her elbow, helping her to find a chair. After a few minutes of scooting and shuffling, nearly all the places were filled. There was a brief prayer of thanks given by Grandma Michaels, then the meal began in earnest.
Rose was hungrier than she'd thought and found the food simple, but good. Beside her, Jake ate quietly, not saying much and Rose's eyes strayed to the empty place at the head of the table. He was still worried about his father, she knew, and she reached under the table to take hold of his hand. He flashed her a grateful smile.
The bang of the kitchen door froze that smile on his face. His apprehension was so tangible that Rose felt a stab of uncertainty and had to fight a ridiculous urge to get up and run away from the table. Telling herself she was being foolish, she took a deep breath, trying to calm her wildly thumping heart.
"I tell ya, Pa, that vet doesn't know what the hell he's talkin' about," came a gruff voice before two men entered the dining room.
"Now, Jake," the older of the pair reasoned, "He's just trying to help. You gotta admit, what he says makes sense."
They continued going back and forth about it as they took their seats. The older one, Rose assumed, was Jake's grandfather. He was tall and lean, his face weathered under his head of thick, silver hair. He had a kind and patient air that Rose could sense from just watching him. As he sat down he tousled the head of the child seated next to him. The little boy beamed at his grandpa.
Jake, Sr. was the exact opposite of his father. Shorter and stouter, his face wore a scowl that Rose feared was there most of the time. His movements were brusque. He'd sat down and started serving himself before he even noticed that his son was at the table. His eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, but that was the only show of emotion he displayed.
"I didn't think you were coming," he stated evenly in greeting.
"Nice to see you too, Dad," Jake replied, the edge of sarcasm evident in his voice. Rose had never heard him like this.
Jake, Sr. appeared unruffled. "What brings you home?" He might as well have been asking about the weather.
Rose couldn't believe the question. It was Christmas, after all. As if anyone needed a reason to come home anyway, wasn't the holiday season enough?
"I wanted you to meet someone." Jake's voice had taken on a strained quality that made him seem almost a stranger. If he hadn't been holding her hand tightly, Rose would have wondered who this was sitting next to her. "This is Rose Foley... my fiancé."
The older man didn't say anything for a long time. He sat with his fork half-way to his mouth and stared at his son. After a while, he set the utensil down slowly, and for the first time, let his gaze move to Rose.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Michaels." Rose put as much brightness as she could muster into her smile, trying so hard to win this man over. "Jake's told me so much about you."
There was a chortle from somewhere down the table, but Rose didn't let that distract her. The culprit was promptly shushed anyway.
"I love your place," she went on sincerely, but let her voice trail off as she saw the man's bushy eyebrows draw together in displeasure. She wondered what she might have done to offend him already.
When he spoke he didn't address her. Having noted her presence, his eyes moved back to his son.
"She's a Jap," he pronounced disdainfully.
Rose was nonplused, but felt Jake bristle with anger and tried valiantly to defuse the situation. "My mother was Japanese," she explained, then couldn't help adding smartly, "So I guess you're half right."
Jake's father shot her a glare, but continued to talk only to his son, as if Rose weren't even there.
"So this is what you're settling for? Kristy Rossmore wasn't good enough for you, but you're gonna marry this... this..."
"Her name is Rose," Jake informed his father icily.
"Hmmph," came the harsh response. "Shoulda figured. Just like in Tokyo Rose."
"Let it go, Dad," Jake warned through clenched teeth.
"You tellin' me what to do in my own house, boy?" The older Michaels' voice had risen in anger.
"Jacob Thomas, that's enough!" came a stern command from across the table and Rose glanced up gratefully to see who their new ally was.
Katherine Michaels was glaring at her oldest son. Despite her age and size, it was obvious she still had authority over him. He scowled darkly into his plate, but refrained from any further comments. After a moment, everyone else resumed eating and the tension dissipated somewhat.
Rose, however, had no appetite. She could see Jake wasn't interested in food right now either. She wasn't sure she could sit here like this, enduring the hurtful silence from her future father-in-law. She would have almost rather had the bitter words. Those at least she could fight. She felt a sudden wave of homesickness -- longing for the noise and confusion of a meal with Nick and her sisters. She entertained a fleeting doubt that perhaps she'd made the wrong decision -- that agreeing to marry Jake so soon after meeting him wasn't going to turn out like she'd thought it would.
"Don't let him ruin it for you," came a whisper on her right. Rose turned at the cultured English voice to find Kay's husband, Robert McCall, smiling encouragement at her. He put a conspiratorial finger to his lips and continued in a voice only she could hear. "Just remember, it isn't you... it's the world in general he hates. You just happen to be a convenient target."
Rose flashed him a grateful smile. She supposed he was right. Judging by his expression, he'd probably been on the receiving end of the older man's wrath a few times. That helped Rose put things into perspective a little. It really didn't matter what her fiancé's father thought of her -- the most important thing was the love between Jake and herself. As long as she had faith in that, she could handle whatever else happened.
They managed to get through the rest of the meal and when the family began to disperse, Jake took Rose by the arm and led her outside. She wasn't sure if it was to have some time alone or merely to escape further confrontation with his father. She wouldn't blame him if that was the case. She didn't relish spending much time with the man either, and her heart ached for what Jake must have endured growing up.
They settled on the porch swing and sat quietly for a time. Letting Jake take the lead, Rose waited for him to start. She watched him as he stared off into the distance, his thoughts obviously troubled. He was such a kind, sweet man, Rose marveled at how he could have such a hateful father.
He finally breathed out a heartfelt sigh and turned his clear, blue eyes on her.
"I'm so sorry, Rose," he began contritely. "I should've known how he would act."
Rose shook her head and placed a finger on Jake's lips to silence his apologies. "It's not your fault," she insisted. "You didn't know..."
"But I should have expected it," he interrupted. "He's always been that way, and not just with you. Japanese, Mexican, Indian... it doesn't matter. He never approved of anybody I went out with who wasn't white bread American."
"Like Kristy Rossmore?" Rose grinned, trying to lighten his mood.
Jake leaned back his head and laughed. "Exactly like Kristy Rossmore." He shook his head. "I can't believe I ever went along with that."
"Went along?" Rose asked curiously, eager to learn more about her fiancé's past.
"We were actually engaged for a little while. But my dad practically hand-picked her. She was the daughter of a friend of his -- if you can believe he has any friends."
Rose poked him in the ribs to keep him on track. He chuckled and pulled her closer to him. "It was my first summer home from the Point and Dad had her all lined up... practically pushed her at me. She was nice enough, but..." Jake paused and tried to find the right words. He finally pointed to his temple. "She had nothing upstairs, if you know what I mean. We had nothing to talk about."
"Well, I'm certainly glad you didn't marry her," Rose informed him with a smile. She raised a teasing eyebrow. "Anybody else I should know about?"
Jake shrugged. "Nobody really important. There was one girl during my senior year in high school, but nothing ever came of that. I don't even know where she is right now. Guess she moved away. Dad hated her anyway." His face grew serious and he leaned over to kiss her tenderly. "I've never loved anyone like I do you, Rose. Please don't let my dad come between us."
"He won't, Jake... I promise. Nothing will ever come between us."
She settled against him, happy and content for now. The next few days wouldn't be easy, but then they would be able to move on and start their own lives together. She'd meant what she said. She would never let Jacob Michaels -- or anyone else -- destroy what they'd found.